Erika Morphy of CRMBuyer.com wrote an article about self-service in general and specifically named IVR systems as one of the problematic channels that customers don't like to use:

One area of technology development that has not progressed at a head-spinning pace is self-service -- that is, automated systems that aim to help customers without involving an actual human rep. Although these systems have improved over the past couple of decades, some nagging problems are still commonplace -- like, why do I have to repeat my account information over and over again?

Donna Fluss of DMG Consulting is also quoted in the article:

At the moment, applications or tools that help organizations identify what is not working with their systems are making the biggest impact on the market. "These are optimization applications from IVR vendors and standalone providers," she told the E-Commerce Times. The category is loosely defined as "customer experience analytics," or CEA --"an emerging application area which looks at the customer self-service experience."

As the leader in Customer Experience Analytics, ClickFox sees many companies that struggle with understanding customer paths and behavioral patterns in IVR systems. But even though the IVR is the gatekeeper to the more expensive agent interaction, it is only part of the overall cross-channel strategy that a company needs to consider. Once these customers who were asked to repeat something in the IVR zero out, what happens to them? Do they end up with the right agent or they get transferred to another agent? What happens on their next interaction with the company? What happened before this bad experience ever took place? What do the CSAT surveys show? How does all this affect churn rates and what is the likelihood that another customer will go through the exact same path but have a completely different experience?

While IVR systems may be the source for a lot of customer frustration, they are just one piece of the puzzle. ClickFox CEA can analyze all the systems in the enterprise, whether self-service or not, and visually show the paths customers follow to good or bad experiences. By analyzing beyond the IVR, companies can see the effect that one interaction channel has on all the others and their customers' reactions and preferences.

To learn more about ClickFox CEA, read our Technical White Paper or watch our 8 minute Product Demo.

For more from DMG Consulting, read their ClickFox Company Report.